BEIJING -- The U.S. women's softball team, seemingly on another roll to an Olympic gold medal, may run into its toughest test yet Friday against Japan.
Japan, coming off a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics, gave the Americans their toughest battle in Athens with a 3-0 victory in eight innings and has defeated the American team twice since then.
Both the USA and Japan had tough victories against Australia in recent days, Japan defeating Australia in the opener, with the U.S. getting by the Aussies, 3-0 on Wednesday.
This week, in the eight-team, round-robin tournament, Japan has also defeated Chinese Taipei, 2-1, and was set to play the Netherlands today.
